Benjamin Macias, 40, of Sacramento, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. to 12 years in prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine, distributing cocaine, possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute it, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, in 2014 and 2015, Macias supplied Sergio Ambriz, 29, of Sacramento, with cocaine. On four occasions, Ambriz sold this cocaine to an undercover agent in Sacramento and El Dorado Counties. Agents planned to arrest Macias and Ambriz during a fifth transaction on June 9, 2015. Shortly before they could do so, Macias sped away from the scene at about 90 miles per hour. Helicopter video showed that, in his attempt to escape, he drove through an intersection, appeared to fail to stop at a red light, and drove erratically as he passed other cars on westbound Highway 50 near the El Dorado Hills Town Center.

After they apprehended him in Gold Run, agents searched Macias’s car. In the glove compartment, they found a Ruger 9 mm pistol loaded with hollow-point bullets; they also found more than one pound of cocaine in the trunk. On the same day, agents searched Macias’s Sacramento home and found ammunition, a 35-round magazine, and more cocaine.

Macias has a record of other criminal convictions stretching back to 1996. He was on pretrial release for California state charges relating to firearm and marijuana possession when he committed the crimes of which he was convicted in this case.

Ambriz previously pleaded guilty to using a cellphone to facilitate a drug trafficking offense and was sentenced on November 4, 2016, to four years in prison.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department, the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul A. Hemesath and Amanda Beck prosecuted the case.

Charge:

CONSPIRACY TO DISTRIBUTE AND TO POSSESS WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE COCAINE
(1)
DISTRIBUTION OF COCAINE
(4-7)
POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE COCAINE
(8)
FELON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM
(10)